


Revelations

by LoriliaUniverse



Category: Fallout 3
Genre: Angst and Humor, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, F/M, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2017-02-22
Packaged: 2018-07-14 00:42:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7145120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoriliaUniverse/pseuds/LoriliaUniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>River never wanted this. All she wanted was for her and her father to be happy, but she would learn that happiness is a luxury in the Capital Wasteland that would cost more than she ever bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been wanting to do a story of some sort in the Fallout universe for a while now and this is what happened. I hope u guys like it

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give onto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely."   
    - Revelation 21:6 

 

Chapter 1 - 

  Ian thought she was an angel when they first met. Her eyes is what he first noticed about her, they where small and black but there was a warmth to them. She smiled at him, a little awkwardly he would admit later, but it was full of a kindness he hadn't seen since he was a child. It was plainly obvious that she wasn't from the wastes, her hands where too smooth and her face too round. She was short and chubby, probably never went hungry a day in her life. But there was something in her face that Ian could relate to; fear.

This angel did not resemble the ones he is used to in the Book his father read to him and his sister. She was dirty, covered in sweat and muck from the wastes but still Ian saw an angel. Her thick black framed glasses seemed a little too big for her face, she kept touching them as if to make sure they where still there. She didn't know what to do with her hands after she closed the door behind her so she stuffed them into the pockets of her leather jacket. 

"You're Ian, right?" She asked, kindness so etched into her features that he couldn't look at her. "I'm River." She introduced herself, shifting her weight back and fourth. Ian didn't answer her, so she continued to try to fill the tense silence. "You know the people back at Arefu are worried about you, they think that the Family kidnapped you. But I've met Vance, and he doesn't seem the kidnapping type." She sat down in the chair across from him, hands still in her pockets but now he couldn't avoid her eyes. "So what did happen Ian?" 

 

River thought that Ian wasn't a bad guy. He was troubled and dark, deep into depression, but he wasn't bad. He loved his sister and his parents very much, he was horrified at what he did to his parents. He was afraid of himself, and came with the Family in the best interests of Arefu. River listened to him as he told her about his hunger, how it had started when he was a child, and how he had tried to hide it from his parents. How he tried his best to fight it. Now she wasn't a medical expert, although she remembered that the G.O.A.T. had told her she would follow in the footsteps of her father (and now that she thought about it the damned test was more correct about that then she realized then), but she figured this hunger he had was a result of him getting hit in the head so hard. The brain was a fucky place after all, it could be a number of things.

She tried her best to talk to him, as she was never good with words, and give him the best advice she could offer. She was compassionate towards him, but never did she pity him. She had learned that pity was a useless state in the wasteland, pity gets nothing done. When they seemed to run out things to talk about, Ian asked her what she thought he should do. That's when she remembered why she came to Arefu in the first place; his sister Lucy had given her a letter to deliver.

"I can't tell you what to do, but your sister might offer some guidance." She said, pulling out the letter she tucked away safely in her tunnel snakes jacket.

"Lucy?" He asked, unsure. River handed him the letter and he ripped it open. She tinkered with her Pip-Boy while he read the letter, cataloging the items she had on her. "Tell Vance I made up my mind." Ian finally said after a few minutes of silence.

"What did you decide?" River asked, curious enough to muster up the courage to ask him. 

"I belong in Arefu, the Family is not the right path for me." Ian told her. He looked like he was still fighting himself, but River thought maybe that is how it must be for him to be happy.

"I'll let Vance know then." River said, turning to leave. Her mind on ways to help the Family and Arefu at the same time.

"River," Ian called stopped her. She turned around again, looking at him properly for the first time. Her heart broke at how lost he looked, how afraid, and her heart broke at how familiar that pain was. "Can you… take me back to Arefu? I don't think I could… on my own." He asked. 

"Yeah; of course." River answered quickly. She hadn't traveled with anyone in the wasteland yet. She hadn't slept since escaping the vault that yesterday morning. It would be nice to find somewhere to make camp until morning. Or maybe Vance would be kind enough to let the two stay here for the night. "In that case I'll be right back." She said and left the small room. 

 

Vance was more than happy to let River and Ian stay the night with the Family. The two slept across from each other on old mattresses, Ian had a harder time than River falling asleep. He hadn't been able to get her to talk much about herself. She always changed the subject or became mysteriously interested in her Pip-Boy. In fact the only things he really knew about her was her name and that she used to live in a vault, yet she knew almost everything about him. More than his parents ever did. Like she was invested in helping him. Ian wondered why. 

He was no one to her, just another kid in the wastes. Why did this stranger care so much about him? It was starting to be suspicious. If the Capital Wasteland had taught him anything its that people can go a long way to be dicks. But something told him that she was different. Different bad or different good he couldn't decide yet. 

Gunfire shattered Ian's thoughts abruptly. It came from the sewer system, where one of the Family stood guard at all times. River awoke with a start, practically jumping up from her mattress; her hands in fists.

"What's going on?" She asked in a hushed voice, not knowing if Ian was awake or not.

"Probably some feral ghouls." Ian told her, propping himself up on his elbow. But the gunfire didn't stop. River walked to the balcony where Vance usually stood to see the other members of the Family getting up to see what the noise was about too. Ian got up to join River at the balcony. She rubbed her eyes and checked her Pip-Boy, illuminating her face with the green light.

"I'm going to make sure-" but before she could finish Robert burst through the door holding his assault rifle close to his chest, breathing heavily. 

"A big group of feral ghouls," he told Vance, who had ran toward him. "Caught me by surprise when I was fixing the turret, gonna need help clearing them out." Ian looked back to River to see that she had gone and was halfway down the steps. 

"Let me do it." She told Vance, who seemed taken aback by her offer. "Its the least I can do for you guys." Vance looked her up and down, no doubt appraising how effective she would be in a fight. Ian also had doubts about her usefulness with the laser pistol she carried, she didn't look like she could hurt anyone or anything. 

"Alright, Robert-" Vance's eyes went wide as he noticed that Robert was bleeding, and was now standing in a small pool of his own blood. "Holly! Robert needs medical attention asap!" He shouted for his wife. She hurried over with a small first aid box, instructing Robert to lay down. 

"No. I have to protect the Family, its just a flesh wound." He argued. 

"Robert stay here and obey Holly that's an order. I refuse to lose a member of this Family." Vance commanded. Robert hung his head and nodded. Ian had rushed down after River, grabbing his 10mm pistol just in case.

"River and I will go." He offered, standing by her side. Vance agreed quickly and the pair left through the heavy metal door.

"Don't be surprised if we never see those two again." Holly muttered under her breath. Vance just sighed and went to Robert's side.

 

"You know how to use that thing right?" Ian asked River as they scouted out the underground. She shushed him as they came up to three feral ghouls crowding around something. He readied his pistol, but in a flash of red light all three of the ghouls dropped to the floor. "Jesus, a warning would be nice next time you do that." Ian commented, trying to blink away the red dot in his vision. 

"Sorry, I'm just so used to the light it doesn't bother me." River apologized and moved toward the dead ghouls. "What happened to these people?" 

"Who knows? A lot of ghouls go feral because of addiction to chems. Drugs like that change people, makes them do bad things." Ian explained. "Or at least that's what my dad would say." 

"Convent that they forgot how to use guns." She said, showing him the assault rifle they had gathered around.

"Don't go giving them ideas now." River giggled, and Ian was surprised at how her smile lit up her entire face like nothing he had ever seen before. Suddenly she was as bright as the sun and Ian couldn't help but to smile as well, despite himself.

River made short work of the rest of the pack, her aim was near perfect that it was scary. Ian wondered how a vault kid got that good with a gun.

"What the hell did they have you doing in that Vault?" He asked when his curiosity finally got the better of him.

"Well it gets pretty boring down there as a kid with nothing to do and my dad gave me a pellet gun. You can fill in the blanks." River answered, looking over another dead ghoul for loot.

"Those glasses, do they help?" He asked. River took off the glasses to look at them, as if she forgot they where there.

"They aren't mine. They belonged to a friend of mine in the Vault." She confessed.

"What happened to him?" Ian asked, watching her get up from the ground still looking at the glasses sadly.

"He's dead." She answered and put them back on. Ian noticed that she had popped out the glass. He nodded solemnly.

"Sorry." He said, not knowing what else to say. River started walking back to the Family. 

"Its not your fault." She stated, walking ahead of him. Ian sighed and followed. 

 

Vance was glad to see that both River and Ian had gotten out alive, and was even happier when River offered to patch up Robert. Holly was good at first aid but no where close to River's fancy vault education. By the time that was done the sun was out and almost all of the Family had gone to sleep. Ian had already said his goodbyes and River promised to come back with Arefu's decision of the peace offering, so the pair left the dark tunnels; saying goodbye to Robert who was sitting beside his turret yet again. 

"You think he'll be okay?" Ian asked idly as they walked out into the sunlight.

"As long as he doesn't strain himself too much he'll make a full recovery. He'll have a nasty scar on his leg but other than that he will be fine." River told him, sounding like a proper doctor to Ian.

"How long did you study medicine in the vault?" He asked. River looked surprised that he knew where she came from but it faded away in mere seconds. 

"Its that obvious huh?" She said, thinking of when she went to Megaton and everyone automatically knew she was from a vault. River thought to the people of the wastes she must seem so soft, but in the vault she often felt too rough. "My dad is a doctor, I learned all of what I know from him. He told me it might come in handy one day." He was right, River thought.

"Is he…" Ian started to ask but thought better of it. River didn't seem to hear him and he thanked the heavens for that. "Arefu isn't very far from here, I can see the bridge." He said instead.

"Good, after I drop you off at Arefu I gotta run back to Megaton." River said offhandedly. Ian didn't think she would leave so soon.

"What's the rush?" He asked trying to act casual and not sound as needy as he felt. River met his eyes for a second then immediately looked away for the third time since he had met her. He made a mental note of the pattern.

"Your sister will probably like to know about what happened, don't you think? I'll go tell her and bring her back to Arefu, you shouldn't be alone right now." River told him. Ian was taken back by all of the effort and thought that a total stranger was putting into making sure he was OK. It made him stop walking. River looked back at him, with a confused stare. 

"Why are you doing this? What do you get out of helping me? I don't have anything to offer you." He said. River sighed.

"I'm just trying to help, Ian. Really." She answered and kept walking. 

Ian took a moment to marvel at his luck and had no option other than to keep walking beside this angelic being he had discovered.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> listen... there are no set release dates for these chapters ever. Because I'm a piece of shit. That is all.

Ian didn't expect the warm welcome back from the residents of Arefu. But he got it. Evan King told him that he was sorry for his loss, they thought the Family had killed his parents and he wasn't going to correct them. King had even gone through the messy business of cleaning the Wests' house, and giving them a proper funeral. Truth be told Ian didn't think he could bare to look at his parent's dead bodies ever again, so he was thankful for that.

River had gone off to Megaton with the promise that she would be back as fast as she could with Lucy. It was still morning when she left and Ian had hoped that he wouldn't have to sleep in the room alone. He had hoped that he wouldn't ever have to be alone again. But he knew that neither Lucy or River would want to stay with a monster. They had their own lives to live anyway.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he did something horrible again. He damned River for taking him away from the Family, for coming into his life and believing in him. Maybe if she never showed he would have learned to be whatever it was that the Family was. Maybe he could have learned how to be okay again, or at least pretend like he was okay again.

But Ian knew that he had made the right decision when he saw his sister again. Lucy always had a way of making him forget how much of a monster he was, and she forced him to face the fact that someone in the wasteland still cares whether he lives or dies.

"Ian!" She called to him. He sat at the now empty brahmin barn, not being able to force himself to go up to the house alone. Lucy looked like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, jogging towards Ian to embrace him. She figured out of what little River would tell her he needed it. "Thank God you're okay, what happened?" She asked in no more than a whisper.

"River didn't tell you?" He asked, looking back at River to see her walking towards them slowly. She, too, looked relieved.

"She just told me really vague things that made me want to punch her. Said that I needed to hear it from you." Lucy answered.

"Well we have a lot to talk about then," Ian told Lucy. She turned her attention to River who walked up beside her. "Going somewhere River?" He asked.

"Yeah I gotta talk to Evan real quick and go back to the train station for me." She told him, shifting her weight back and forth nervously again.

"You sure are a busy woman, if you come back you can crash at our place." Lucy offered, looking to Ian for agreement. He nodded vigorously.

"Thanks, I should be back before dark." River told them and left to speak to Evan King. Ian took a second to watch her go up the ramp before starting to explain himself to his sister.

 

Lucy knew there was something going on between her brother and River. She wasn't exactly sure what yet, but it was something. She had never seen her brother look at another person like he looked at her, was it just admiration or something… more? A part of her didn't want to know but a bigger part of her wanted to know everything there was to know about River.

The girl was a straight up mystery to most of Megaton, and well most folks don't ask too many questions when it comes to strangers in the first place. River's awkward nature just encouraged the unheeding nature of the wastelanders. In short, the girl was good at avoiding questions she didn't want to answer.

"River, do you mind if we talked?" Lucy thought there was certainly no harm in trying, despite it. River got back before dark, like she had said, but she'd had gone to ticker with some old robot junk from when a Protectron had guarded the town. The robot hadn't been functional in over two years now since nobody knew how to fix it, or just forgotten about the old tin can. River knew the robot was a lost cause but she needed a good distraction, and something to do with her hands.

"Sure, what about?" She asked straight to the point, not meeting Lucy's eyes. Lucy leaned on the rusty wall of the old barn next to where River had plotted herself on the ground with robot parts all around her.

"Well, about you really," That caught River's attention, she raised her eyebrows still not looking at Lucy.

"Not much to tell in that subject," River said. Lucy sighed.

"You're from a Vault, that much I figured out on my own, but why did you leave?"

"Well it really wasn't my choice. I had to leave to find my dad." Lucy was interested now.

"I remember you walking around Megaton, asking anybody that would listen if they had seen someone, I didn't know it was your dad." Lucy said, watching River examine a fission battery longer than she probably needed to.

"Well, the trails gone cold. Everyone I asked said they never saw him if he did go to Megaton." River told her. There was a short silence as Lucy thought of what to say.  
"Did you ask Moriarty? He runs the bar; people usually stop by there." She mentioned.

"No, I didn't think the saloon was a place for me to be honest. I'll swing by tomorrow and ask." Lucy gave River an appraising look, that River didn't notice at all.

"Just to give you a heads up, Moriarty is not the most giving person in Megaton." River snorted. "Talk to Gob, the bartender, or hell even Nova has more of a heart than Moriarty."

"Will do." She said, still avoiding her eyes. After a few moments of silence River finally looked up at Lucy. "Is there something else you wanted to ask?"

"Why do you care so much about us? This town? My brother? What's in it for you?" Lucy got to the point. River shook her head slightly before answering.

"I'm just trying to do what I think is right. Trying to help people out here in whatever small ways I can, ya know?" She wiped her forehead and stood up from the ground, dusting herself off. "I spent nineteen years of my life safe and sound underground, I didn't even think about how many people would be out here in the wasteland dying every day. It just seems like a giant waste of my time being in that vault now." Lucy considered her for a moment.

"I'm going to give you some advice River, out here in the wastes you can't save everyone." Lucy told her. River shook her head.

"I think when I start to believe that I might as well just let the wasteland kill me." River told her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go see if anyone has a wrench."

As Lucy watched River walk up to the town she knew that the wasteland was going to tear her apart.

 

The next morning Lucy pulled her brother aside while River was gathering herself to leave.

"Listen Ian I have something to say," She whispered quickly as she watched Ian watch River. He looked up at his older sister, who was a few inches taller than him. Their mother would often remark that they looked nothing alike, apart from their long thin noses.

"What's wrong?" He asked in the same hush Lucy used.

"Do you like River?" She asked straight out, she figured it was best to be brash with this sort of thing. Ian went into a fluster.

"Wha? Er… I mean she saved my life… I admire her." He said almost stuttering. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Listen Lucy, people like me don't get people like River."

"What's there to 'get'?" She asked, then changed her mind. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know. Just… let your big sister give you a piece of advice; never pass up a chance to be happy even if you think you don’t deserve it.” Ian nodded slowly, then looked back to River. 

“Thanks for the advice.” He said and walked away to help River pack up. Lucy watched the two interact, and hoped that her brother would take her advice. It is not often in the wasteland that things like this happen, but when they do Lucy knew that you had to grab them and never let them go. In all honesty, that was why she moved to Megaton. She needed to get out, needed to be somewhere else than just these shacks on a freeway. She held onto her chance for happiness and never let go. Ian needed to learn how to do the same.

 

“I guess I’ll see you two around then,” River said as she fiddled with her gear one last time. Ian couldn’t stop his head from spinning as he watched her walk away from their shack. Lucy offered no help, as all she did was raise her eyebrows at him then went back to reading her book on the floor. He thought about what she had said, and all that had happened to him in the span of four days. His life would never be the same, no matter how much he wanted it to be. He knew that from the moment Vance walked into his life, but he didn’t account for the presence of River P’an. 

Why was he so afraid? Rejection? That seemed very small to him right now, in the face of his reality. Ian knew he wouldn’t last long on his own and he couldn’t ask Lucy to stay when her happiness was in Megaton. He wasn’t afraid of death, you get over that fear quickly in the wastes, he was afraid of the loneliness. He thought about going back to the Family and quickly dismissed the idea. There was no place for him there, just like there was no place for him here anymore. 

He could wander, but that too seemed like a hopeless cause. He could never find happiness in himself. He had to take the chance to find his happiness in someone else.  
“River! Wait!” He called out and she stopped right away, looking back. He mustered up all his courage and ran to her. 

 

Lucy watched as Ian chased his own happiness, and smiled. Her little brother was finally growing up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

“Paradise Falls?” River questioned Ian while the two were out gathering junk to sell. A month ago River agreed to stay in Arefu with Ian, and the two had settled into a routine. They would go out into the wastes to find whatever they could then sell it all to Moira Brown. Used the money to buy whatever they needed then gave the rest to Evan King to keep a steady supply of blood packs. Every time they went out it was further and further away from Arefu, but they had done well for themselves. 

“Awful place, inhabited by slavers.” Ian answered, picking up another box of Sugar Bombs. “Another one for Murphy.” River nodded and typed it into her Pip-boy. She kept a thorough inventory of everything they picked up and sold, it was another way to keep herself busy in the wasteland. 

“Slavers worse than Raiders?” She asked.

“Yes. Raiders just kill people and take chems. Slavers kidnap people and sell them to the highest bidder. Usually take kids.” He said.

“Got it, but nothing can be worse than that Super-Duper Mart we cleared out.” River brought up, Ian shook his head.

“You would be surprised.” He told her as they exited the destroyed house together. “How is Moira’s book going anyway?” She had asked River to help her write something she called “The Wasteland Survival Guide”, sending both of them off to a Super-Duper Mart then a minefield. Consecutively. 

“Well she wants me to contract radiation sickness, but I think I am going to put that off a little while. Maybe not until I’m near death already.” Ian laughed, even though the two where as different as it gets they shared the same odd humor. “Anyhow you can talk to her yourself once we get to Megaton.”

“Speaking of Megaton…” Ian started again. River knew automatically what Ian was going to say. He had been trying to convince her for a few weeks now to help Lucas Simms with the small bomb problem the people of Megaton had built their town around. And by ‘small bomb’ he meant an active, undetonated, C-23 megaton atomic bomb. That some people in the town even started to worship. River didn’t want anything to do with that mess. 

That is until one Mr. Burke walked into her life.

He approached her in Moriarty’s saloon, right as she walked in to ask around about her father he called her over to his corner of the bar. The way he spoke and held himself told River to run for the hills, but against her better instincts, she approached him. And he had an offer for her.

An offer she flat out refused. She even went straight to Lucas Simms and helped kill Mr. Burke where he sat in the saloon. Even since then she knew that whoever Burke’s ‘employer’ was would look for him. Maybe even take more drastic steps to wipe Megaton off the map, knowing this bugged the ever-living shit out of her. Ian knew this, and knew the only way River would ever rest easy again would be to disable the bomb. 

“You could do it River, if anyone in this wasteland can you can.” Ian told her. River shook her head, and took a moment to wipe the sweat off her forehead.  
“I can’t perform miracles Ian. If I mess up even once that’s it, everyone within a 2-mile radius is dead. Plus, the radiation would be enough to affect the area for decades.” River said. “I can’t take those chances; I don’t want those lives on my conscious.”

“River you might be the only one who can help them. No one else has the experience or know-how with explosives and is willing to help but you. I understand that you don’t want to hurt anybody but I know that you won’t mess up. I know you can do this.” Ian argued. “If you don’t I know someone else will come along and detonate that bomb sooner or later. Not everyone in the wasteland is as compassionate as you are.” River sighed. She knew she had to do something. If something where to happen to Megaton and she did nothing it would kill her. While the worst thing that can happen if she did do something was death. 

There was silence between the two until they reached the gates of Megaton, the Protectron greeting them.

“Welcome to Megaton!” It said in its artificial voice. River made a mental note to offer to help fix the poor thing up a little, he had seen better days. Ian looked at River while the gates slowly opened, she pretended not to know he was looking.

“I know, Ian.” River said quietly and Ian nodded in response.

 

“Lucy!” Ian called to his sister from the door to the saloon. Lucy looked up from her book to see her little brother, covered in the dirt and grime of the wasteland per usual. But he looked healthier, happier, every time she saw him. This was, without any doubt in her mind, River’s influence. “Whatca reading now?” He asked, gesturing to her book.

“Moira has me reading her survival guide, for an outside opinion she says.” Lucy answered, and shook her head. “She’s going to ask River for that prologue again you know.” Moira had asked River to write something for the book, an introduction of sorts. Something about how River has an different perspective on things because she’s from a Vault, and how that perspective could be useful for people out here. Even Lucy had to admit, the girl lasted longer than she thought she would. On top of that she seemed to be doing well for herself in the wastes, settling in and all that. No one thought she had in it her, well maybe no one but Ian.

“She’s been ducking and dodging Moira since we walked through the gates.” Ian said. “How’s life sis?” He asked, taking a seat next to Lucy.

“It’s been unsettlingly quiet around here of late,” Lucy answered honestly. “Word got out about Mr. Burke. People are scared. There’s been a lot of talk of people planning to move east, to Rivet City. I know Simms, he’s worried even if it doesn’t show.” Ian listened intently, rubbing his hands together absentmindedly. 

“Lucy! Are you gonna order another drink or am I going to have to kick ya out of my bar?” Moriarty asked from over the counter.

“I’m leaving Colin,” Lucy replied, putting emphasis on the owner’s name. “Let’s go back to my place Ian, we can talk in private there.” 

As the two got up to leave River burst through the saloon door, looking like she just won a war. She searched the bar for Ian quickly and rushed over to him.  
“I did it.” She said, stopping herself and taking a breath. “I disarmed the bomb.” 

“You did what?” Lucy asked first, recovering from the shock quickly. River didn’t answer, she just looked around the dingy bar like it was the first time she was really seeing it.  
“Hold on now,” Moriarty broke in. “Lil River P’an disarmed the Megaton bomb?” He laughed, it had almost no emotion in it. River didn’t respond.

“River,” Ian began; a little more desperate and shaky than he would have liked. Her small dark eyes met his. He stepped toward her and pulled her into a hug. She was stiff and awkward, when she finally hugged him back it was slow and unsure. “I knew you could do it.” He whispered to her. She was the first to let go.

“Come on, you two.” Lucy said, smiling. The three of them left the bar just in time to see the sun set.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading ya'll.


End file.
